Real Estate

House Hunting in ... France

Slide Show | A House With Two Pools in Provence Built in 2006 with the look of a traditional farmhouse, the six-bedroom home is on the market for $3.9 million.

Rebecca Marshall for The New York Times

February 10, 2016

International Real Estate

By ROXANA POPESCU

A HOUSE WITH TWO POOLS IN PROVENCE

$3.9 MILLION (3.45 MILLION EUROS)

This six-bedroom home, built in 2006, has the look and layout of a traditional farmhouse in Provence. Its design incorporates materials sourced from the area, including the stones that make up its facade. The house is on a hill between the villages of La Colle-sur-Loup and St.-Paul-de-Vence. It encompasses about 7,320 square feet, including the basement and the indoor pool, and sits on a 1.5-acre lot. The house has six full and two half baths.

The living room has a tile floor and a large, rustic fireplace. To the right is the dining room, with ceilings that have exposed beams painted a grayish off-white. Past the dining room, on the right side of the house, the large kitchen has a central island, a stone sink and the home’s second fireplace.

The master bedroom, which has a sitting area, is to the left of the common living spaces. Its en-suite bathroom includes a shower and sauna, as do several of the other bathrooms. A second room on the ground floor is now an office, but could be converted to a bedroom, said Jean-Nicolas Frontini of Michaël Zingraf Real Estate Christie’s, the listing agency, which has offices throughout the Côte d’Azur and Provence. That room has a half-bath, and there is another half-bath near the home’s entrance.

Upstairs is a TV room and four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. Some of the bedrooms open onto a terrace with views of the pool, the gardens and the hills beyond. The largest upstairs bedroom has high ceilings and a loft, which could be used for sleeping, as a TV room, or as a children’s play area, Mr. Frontini said. All the bedrooms have air-conditioning units, as do some of the common areas. In the basement, there is an indoor swimming pool, a large room for dancing or parties, a wine cellar and a bathroom with a shower and sauna.

There are colorful and artisanal details throughout the house. The dining room ceiling is painted with medieval-looking imagery, Mr. Frontini said. A local artist did the work, inspired by the ceiling of a restaurant in the nearby seaside city of Cagnes-sur-Mer. The room’s chandelier was custom designed in Murano to match the paintings. Furnishings and artwork are not included in the sales price, but most, including the chandelier, are negotiable.

Doors in the living and dining rooms open onto the spacious back yard, which has a second pool, terraces for dining or taking the sun, and olive and lemon trees. On the north side of the property is an independent guest studio of about 400 square feet, which has a bathroom with a shower and is now being renovated, Mr. Frontini said.

The area is full of touristic activities, including biking, hiking and historic sites. The noted hotel and restaurant La Colombe d’Or is in St.-Paul-de-Vence, less than a five-minute drive; Nice’s international airport is about a 20-minute drive, and the city’s center is about 15 minutes beyond that.

MARKET OVERVIEW

A favorable exchange rate, low interest rates and a drop in property prices are making real estate in France an attractive investment for foreigners, agents in Provence said.

Serious buyers have returned to the region, said Philippe Boulet, director of the St.-Remy-de-Provence office of the Emile Garcin real estate company. Fredrik Lilloe, the managing director of the brokerage Knight Frank French Riviera in Mougins, near Cannes, said his agency saw a 40 percent increase in inquiries between 2014 and 2015.

For years, the asking prices for luxury homes were out of touch with reality, Mr. Boulet said.

“Many properties were overvalued,” he said. Starting in 2015, the market in Provence began to see asking prices lowered, sometimes by as much as 40 percent from their peak in 2008, he said.

Asking prices fell because, after holding out, sellers realized “the only way forward was drop their price,” he said.

Mr. Lilloe said sales prices of properties in France have been declining since 2009, and they are now as much as 30 percent lower than they were during the peak. Provence, which is a seasonal destination, was harder hit than the neighboring Côte d’Azur, which has more year-round appeal, he said.

Agencies have begun seeing increased interest in luxury properties, agents said. While the inventory of luxury homes is large, they said, the number of homes that both are high quality and reflect a reasonable value is significantly smaller. Prices for homes in the region vary widely, agents said. Mr. Boulet gave a range of 1,000 to 20,000 euros per square meter, or about $105 to $2,100 per square foot, depending on the type of property, its location and its condition. Mr. Lilloe said a luxury villa in Provence could cost between 6,000 and 10,000 euros per square meter (roughly $630 to $1,050 per square foot).

Provence has traditionally been more affordable than the neighboring Côte d’Azur, Mr. Lilloe added. Luxury homes in the coastal zone mostly range from about $1.7 to $5.7 million, with transactions of more than $11 million not uncommon, he said. In inland Provence, the core market for luxury homes is from roughly $1.1 million to $3.4 million.

WHO BUYS IN PROVENCE

American buyers are starting to return to Provence after losing interest during the global recession and the years of a strong euro.

“In fact, they still do love France and were still visiting here through rental or hotel vacations,” Mr. Boulet wrote in an email. “With a higher buying power, they are back almost as during the ’90s.”

Buyers also come from Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, agents said.

Mr. Lilloe said most foreign buyers in Provence were buying homes to use for family vacations, with plans to keep the home for their eventual retirement.

BUYING BASICS

No legal restrictions apply to foreigners purchasing property in France. Buyers who are in bankruptcy, whether or not they are foreign, are not permitted to buy property, said Fabien Cordiez, a partner with ECD Avocats & Solicitors, a law firm based in Aix-en-Provence.

Purchases are typically handled by notaries. Buyers should expect to pay between 7.5 percent and 8.5 percent of the purchase price for taxes and notary fees, Mr. Cordiez said.

Mr. Cordiez recommended that buyers also retain an English-speaking lawyer who is licensed and established in France. Lawyers can protect buyers in situations where the powers of notaries are limited, or in the case of negligence or misconduct on the part of a notary. In the event of problems, a lawyer can cancel a sale or reclaim a deposit, he said.

“Before signing on the dotted line, purchasers should have the legal paperwork reviewed and finalized by their own independent French attorney,” Mr. Cordiez said.

The French government has imposed some taxes and complicated laws in recent years that affect property purchases, agents said. Mr. Boulet said the country’s stamp duty was raised several years ago. A wealth tax increased by the former administration and kept by the Socialist government of President François Hollande affects property owners with net assets of more than around $1.5 million, though ways can be found to mitigate that tax, Mr. Boulet said.